Posted - 02/27/2013 : 08:17:43 AM Several years ago I knit a special hat for a pre-teen grandson; this morning my daughter e-mailed me that the hat disappeared at church Sunday and she needed a photo (which I had) to make a poster to help find the hat, ending with "He LOVES that hat." She said he had put it inside the sleeve of his jacket before hanging up his jacket, as is his habit, and when he put the jacket on after church (not where I want to think stealing takes place!), the hat was missing. It was a unique hat with a stranded colorwork design I made up myself just for him, so it's hard to believe most of their friends wouldn't know to whom that hat belonged.

Anyway, I have had several family members tell me that they are afraid to wear some of the items I have knit for them (usually hats and scarves) ... items that they remove once at work or school ... for fear they will be stolen. Now, on the one hand it may make me feel good that my knitting is so gorgeous that people want to steal it, but then, I don't just want excuses for the items not being used, either.

Another time, when one grandson's favorite hat "disappeared," my daughter sighed and said, "Well, someone is walking around wearing a really nice, warm hat." I was able to knit him another almost like the first (he was afraid to tell me it was gone). And I'll knit another for this grandson, too, if the first doesn't turn up (as if I need an excuse to knit for my grandchildren).

A friend told me of one of her entries being stolen from the displays at the county fair!

Do any of you hear about your knits being stolen? How do you feel about this?

Donna, with intentions always bigger than her available time. (OkieDokieKnitter on Ravelry)

20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)

hillstreetmama

Posted - 05/17/2013 : 9:14:34 PM Years ago, we lost our third child. I made a handmade wreath for her grave and put it out Memorial weekend. Yep, it was stolen. Ever since then, anything I put on her grave is clearly marked "stolen from the grave of ...." I've not lost anything since.

Jan

donnawatk

Posted - 05/10/2013 : 04:37:57 AM Lynne604, I just heard a lady say somebody stole her bible while she was standing at the alter. I also had my picture frame stolen of my desk at work it had my childrens pictures in it, and flowers that my boss sent for Tech week. It turn out to be a co-worker that was stealing, I lock everything up now. I cant tell you how many times they have stolen lunches from the frig. Donna

Lynne604

Posted - 05/06/2013 : 09:52:02 AM It saddens me so much that thieves are in churches. So many things have gone missing from my church that there isn't room to list it all. At one point, someone was even taking the extra rolls of toilet paper from the restrooms!

kare

Posted - 03/14/2013 : 5:50:19 PM It was so sad to hear about hand-knits being stolen...and especially that a knitter would do this. Goodness, I know how much work goes into making something knitted and how heart breaking it would be to have it stolen. I don't know that I've had anything actually stolen, just left on a bus or at a park and by the time I realized where I perhaps left it...of course, by the next day, it was gone...and I only hoped that maybe a homeless person came by and really needed it to keep warm that night.

donnawatk

Posted - 03/11/2013 : 03:38:04 AM Lucybug, Thats funny In my younger years our dog made us keep thing off the floor because he would steal any thing and take it to the back yard. Thats a dog that didn't know any better. I dont think I would be so quick to forgive another knitter.Donna

PS That dog owners are trying to return what he took and thats a plus.

lucybug

Posted - 03/10/2013 : 3:55:42 PM It's heart breaking to hear about hand-knits being stolen and unconscienable to hear that knitters would do it. Talking about other things being stolen our next door neighbor told us that when his lab escaped he would come home with shoes and boots that he would take from neighbors porches. They didn't know who they belonged to so would leave them by the mailboxes.

Pam in the Colorado mountains

agnesgooch

Posted - 03/09/2013 : 5:39:54 PM

quote:Originally posted by Jessica-Jean

Stolen knits? Yep. First was not a knit, but the gorgeous yarn my mother'd bought for me on her one trip overseas. She'd gone to Scotland and bought loads of yarn for me, but some baggage handler at one airport or another broke into her locked luggage and removed the wool.Second was a poncho I'd made for my daughter. She'd found it too warm during the afternoon recess and had hung it on the school-yard fence. Poof! Gone. I still have some of the yarn that was intended to enlarge it for her when she'd grown; she was in 1st grade then.Third was a second poncho this time made by my mother for me. It was nearing completion and - because I'm a big woman (6', ~250 pounds) - it had its own very large tote bag. She'd put the bag up on top of the coat rack in a restaurant, but it was never seen again.

Theives abound everywhere. Jesus may have said that the poor will always be with us, but He neglected to mention that theives would be also. ;)

I've caught two women pulling up plants from my postage-stamp-sized garden. They were upset that I didn't let them make off with my plants! No accounting for some folks lack of couth.

The attempted plant theft really blew my mind, but does not surprise me. I have lived in apartments my whole adult life. In our last apartment you would not believe what was stolen.

My husband returned one morning from taking me to work to find that someone had stolen our Brussels Sprout plant in a pot next to our front door. One Thanksgiving Sunday we noticed that someone had made off with a Norfolk Island pine tree (again, right outside our front door).

The real head scratcher occurred on another Thanksgiving morning. I was sleeping when my husband rushed into the bedroom to retrieve his shotgun. Believe me, I was suddenly awake! Apparently a group of people were leaving to go to some family gathering when they decided to take some of my husband's potted plants with them. My husband went out there with the shotgun and told them to drop them! They did! One of them set the plants he had down and ran out of there. Another commented that he wasn't going to die over some plants. Little did they know that the gun wasn't loaded.

Posted - 03/06/2013 : 06:15:00 AM Years ago, I made a lovely scarf for a friend. We were at a school event, and coats were left in the hall on racks. When we went back for our coats, the new scarf was gone. She asked me to make her another, but my heart wasn't in it and I never did.

Jan

Jessica-Jean

Posted - 03/03/2013 : 2:40:28 PM Stolen knits? Yep. First was not a knit, but the gorgeous yarn my mother'd bought for me on her one trip overseas. She'd gone to Scotland and bought loads of yarn for me, but some baggage handler at one airport or another broke into her locked luggage and removed the wool.Second was a poncho I'd made for my daughter. She'd found it too warm during the afternoon recess and had hung it on the school-yard fence. Poof! Gone. I still have some of the yarn that was intended to enlarge it for her when she'd grown; she was in 1st grade then.Third was a second poncho this time made by my mother for me. It was nearing completion and - because I'm a big woman (6', ~250 pounds) - it had its own very large tote bag. She'd put the bag up on top of the coat rack in a restaurant, but it was never seen again.

Theives abound everywhere. Jesus may have said that the poor will always be with us, but He neglected to mention that theives would be also. ;)

I've caught two women pulling up plants from my postage-stamp-sized garden. They were upset that I didn't let them make off with my plants! No accounting for some folks lack of couth.

Gibson Girl

Posted - 03/03/2013 : 12:55:54 PM Yes..one of my most beautiful projects-a ski sweater that turned out to be truly yummy! I had packed the car for a ski trip the next day and in the early AM when I went to the secured parking garage I discovered the stereo missing as well as my ski clothes. Never recovered any of it but I am always looking for my one of a kind sweater on someone!!

ikkivan

Posted - 03/02/2013 : 11:01:39 AM Well, I do have good news ... my grandson's missing hat was found later in the week; it turned up in the bottom of the church's food-pantry donation box. Possibly this was a prank by another kid, but at least my grandson has his beloved hat again.

In addition to the stories posted here, since telling this to several friends during the week, I heard many more stories of thefts than I wanted to believe would happen.

This is a real eye opener!

Donna, with intentions always bigger than her available time. (OkieDokieKnitter on Ravelry)

THERESA P

Posted - 03/02/2013 : 10:04:09 AM Not knitting, but two framed embroidery pieces. They broke into my car. I was saddened and violated, but I don't know if I should feel flattered too? Luckily they didn't take too long to do.

svjanis

Posted - 03/02/2013 : 06:45:13 AM Disappointed to read so many stories. I gave my granddaughter a hand-spun hand-knitted sweater for Christmas and I hold my breath every time she wears it to school.

S Vourlojianis

bearknitter

Posted - 02/28/2013 : 4:09:47 PM I participated in a public knitting event, wrapping light poles in the town center with knitted pieces, to be left up for a month, then taken down and refashioned into dog and cat blankets for the local dog and cat shelter. 7 or 8 of the post wraps were taken, possibly by the local homeless people who hang out there. In the end it was decided not to report to the police as the homeless might have used them for warmth (one woman confronted us during set up that we should be making blankets for the homeless in our county) or the local teens really didn't need a record because of this petty theft. I wasn't part of the decision, but decided to go along with it. Fortunately, my favorite rainbowed piece was photographed so I have that. I wasn't as bothered as I thought I would be by this theft, but had about 20 more of my pole wrappings (full and partial) still on view.

By the way, the cats and dogs loved the 45 or so blankets we gave them.

Daylily

Posted - 02/28/2013 : 2:38:41 PM I have not yet had any thing I knitted stolen . But I have had one of my daylily plants stolen on the day it would have bloomed for the first time.Some one came up into the front yard up near the front door hallway and dug up the entire plant, Then they made the soil look like nothing had been planted there but I knew the difference. Since then I have move all of the daylilies into the back yard where I can see them from inside the house. And I just re-acquired the daylily that was stolen. It is called COBALT DAWN. The reason I bought it was because it is my name, Dawn is my middle name.

Daylily, another one tomorrow

One Stitch at a Time

Posted - 02/28/2013 : 2:14:49 PM My Sweet Fern Mitts knitted with Elsa Cormo "disapeared" at the last 2012 Knitters Review Retreat. I discussed on Friday night how knitting them made me feel like a knitter for the first time. Knitting those mitts gave me confidence that will last forever. I believe they fell between cushions on the couch in front of the fireplace. There were guests other than the KRR folks and, well, I have my suspicions....

My confidence wasn't taken, but I really loved those mitts.

Nanci

cutlermac

Posted - 02/28/2013 : 09:18:04 AM I had a sweater stolen at a knitting seminar. I was wearing it and it became too warm. I took it off and placed it on my chair. I got up and left my seat for a few moments, returned almost immediately. It was GONE.

How do I feel? Very Disappointed that another KNITTER would do this. Knitters know how much work goes into these items.

deedee57

Posted - 02/28/2013 : 05:59:38 AM Two years ago I knitted a shawl for my mother using Lorna Lace While she was receiving communion, the shawl disappeared. She was visibly upset. The priest approached her after mass, as she was looking about the pews - of course to no avail. The following week's sermon was about theft. She purchased a few inexpsenive woven scarves from Micheals which she wears to church.

gerstperson

Posted - 02/28/2013 : 05:44:10 AM When I was in college, I loved knitting complex Aran patterns, and saved my money to buy the wool yarn I needed for a chocolate brown sweater with a honeycomb of cables across the front. I was immensely proud of my work, and took the sweater with me to summer camp, where I was a senior counselor, with my own tent. Needless to say, someone stole the sweater out of my tent while I was at an activity. Despite all sorts of announcements and a reward offer, it was never found or returned.

I was so heartbroken, I gave up knitting for several years. Luckily, in the early 80's, I was sick enough of needlepoint that I decided to return to knitting and never looked back. And luckily, no further stolen items.

Sharon

Chinese Proverb: Man who says it cannot be done, should not interrupt woman who is doing it.

anderknit

Posted - 02/28/2013 : 05:08:42 AM I went to a small New England liberal arts college with honor code, blah blah blah. My mother had knit me an AMAZING aran-style sweater. She was European so although she had knit since she was a child, she didn't really understand English patterns very well, and as you can imagine, she generally knit utilitarian pieces, not something as complex as an aran sweater. Well, she loved me and she struggled through the pattern (no charts back then!) and gave me this gorgeous sweater. I wore it regularly, including one night to the library. The library got warm inside, I took off the sweater and put it on the back of my chair. Later in the evening, I got up to stretch / socialize /whatever college kids did in libraries in the 70's, and when I returned, the sweater was gone! I was heartbroken. I scoured the building, and for weeks watched every female on that campus to see if she might be wearing that sweater, but nothing. I cried when I called my mother to tell her and 30+ years later, I am still sad about it. And by the way, when my mother died and we cleaned out her house, I found that pattern among her sewing/knitting things. Dare I knit it for my now daughter in college?

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' "